“Is that all you think about anymore?” Sam got up and crossed the floor to where her T-shirt from the other evening had remained, once it was stripped from her body. The blonde picked up the shirt as a smile came to her face. The events following the discarded article of clothing were coming to her mind.

One dark brow raised steadily on Brooke’s forehead. “And tell me you don’t?” The woman sat up in bed, leaning back on her elbows. “Hmm…?” Brooke watched the blonde pull the shirt over her head, the smile quickly fading to a frown. “Hey, why are you getting dressed?”

“Brooke, for the last two weekends we’ve…ah…we’ve…stayed in bed.”

“Making love. So, what’s the big deal? I thought you liked…”

“I’m not saying that I don’t…It’s just…I’ve got to call Crystal and what am I going to say if she asks what I’ve been doing for the last couple of weekends?”

“Oh, I see.” Brooke turned onto her side and rested her head in the crook of her arm. Pausing for a moment or two to think, she bit slightly at her lip, then a sly smile grew across her face. “You could tell her that you’ve been sowing your wild oats while you’re still young.” Blue eyes twinkled with delight as she watched the perplexed look on her lover’s face change to one of shock.

“Brooke Gordon!” Sam crossed her arms over her chest and looked directly at the woman in bed. “And what should I tell her that you’re doing, if she asks?”

The smile broadened, revealing the older woman’s smugness. “Why…helping you, of course.”

Sam picked up the pair of boxers and T-shirt that were Brooke’s and threw them at her, catching her off guard. “Put some clothes on and I’ll call Crystal right now and set up the meeting for my birthday on Tuesday.”

“Huh?” Brooke made a face as she plucked the clothing off the bed where they landed. “I have to get dressed to talk on the phone? Since when?”

“Since now.” Sam picked up the phone and tapped in the numbers for her cousin.

“But Sam,” the older woman protested, “This isn’t television or video of any kind. It’s just a telephone conversation.” Brooke threw back the covers and started to get out.

The blonde stood there listening to the phone ring on the other end as her eyes were filled with the emerging nakedness of a tall, dark-haired woman. “Come on, Crystal.” Sam closed her eyes unable to view the tempting sight another second longer.

“Hello?” The voice sounded tired in the phone.

“Hey, Crystal.” The blonde opened her eyes to see Brooke now lounging on top of the bed, swinging her boxers on one finger. Sam quickly turned and gulped out a rather stressed, “It’s me, Sam.”

“Hey there, Sam. This is a nice surprise. What’s up?” Crystal’s voice became more excited almost immediately upon hearing her cousin’s voice.

What’s up? You had to ask, didn’t you? Sam looked down to the obviously erect nipples under her T-shirt and muttered under her breath. “You don’t really want to know.”

“Where are you calling me from? I didn’t recognize the number on my caller I.D.”

“I’m at Brooke’s. I’m a…staying here this weekend.” Sam crossed the few feet to the bed and sat down on the edge, facing away from the unclad woman. Okay, here it comes. She’s going to ask me. The blonde dropped her head forward and hid her face in her hand. I might as well get it over with. “You’d better write it down. That number seems like the best one to find me at on the weekends.” The young woman plunged right along in the one-sided conversation hoping her cousin wouldn’t remember what it was she wanted to ask, once she got a chance to speak. “I was thinking we could get together for my birthday and have dinner down here.” Sam could hear Crystal laughing on the other end as she took in a very much needed breath.

“Oh, finally you run out of air?” Crystal teased her. “Okay, dinner sounds cool. So, tell me, are you two an item now?”

Amused by what she was hearing come over the phone, Brooke sat up and leaned into Sam’s back, then whispered in her ear, “Item…huh?” She laid a flock of feather light kisses upon the blonde’s neck and listened for Sam’s answer.

“Ah…” Sam sighed trying to keep her mind from roaming with the kisses. “You could say that.”

Pleased, Brooke wiggled her eyebrows as she inched a little closer to the T-shirt clad woman, then let her dark head rest on the small shoulder.

“Sure, Brooke’s house. Got it.” Crystal copied the number down.

“Hey, speaking of got it… how about you pick me up at the dorm on Tuesday, and then we’ll meet up with Brooke at the restaurant. I want you to meet her.” Sam tilted her head until it rested on Brooke’s.

“Oh, I get to meet this honey of yours? GREAT!” Crystal cleared her throat.

“You were going to meet her sooner or later.” Sam giggled and touched Brooke’s hand with her hand, pulling the larger one around her stomach.

“Okay, I can do that. What time do you need me to be there?”

“Ah, Crystal…” Sam paused letting the brows furrow. “You might want to come prepared to stay over night. Brooke’s going to let us stay here. Okay?”

“Sure. You need to be up early for class or what?”

“No, nothing like that. I’ve got a late class on Wednesday afternoon and it will put you closer to home for the morning. So, are you working on Tuesday, Crys?”

“Only until two in the afternoon.” Crystal sighed.

“You pulled that early shift again?”

“Yeah, but that means we could have an early dinner. How about if I pick you up about fourish?”

“It will take about an hour to get to the restaurant. It’s out by Brooke’s place. I’ll be packed and ready for you.” Sam looked back at Brooke and smiled, happy that their plan was taking shape.

“Okay, sounds good. So, you’re sure Brooke has enough room for us both to stay there?” Crystal sounded skeptical.

“Ah…Crys, there’s more than enough room here and if not, we’ll just double up.”

Brooke’s jaw dropped open when she heard Crystal ask, “You and me or you and Brooke?”

Sam turned around to see her tall, naked teddy bear sitting back on her haunches with her lower lip sticking out a mile or more. The blonde couldn’t help smiling at the childlike face now filled with disappointment.

“Hmmm…what do you think, Cous?” Sam teased Brooke with her words.

“I don’t know. How serious are you and this woman, huh?

The dark-haired woman pointed to herself then got on her knees positioning her hands as if she were praying. With the cutest ever childlike face she whispered, “I love you.”

Sam turned a thoughtful glance at the woman, doing a double take, realizing just how sexy Brooke looked on her knees. “You better bring some heavy pajamas, Crystal. It can get cold down here by yourself at night.” Sam chuckled, trying hard not to act upon the thoughts that were going through her mind at that moment.

“Oh, I see. Pretty serious, are you?”

The blonde shook her head, “Like you wouldn’t believe.” She watched as Brooke gathered her in with those familiar long arms and nuzzled her neck.

“That’s great, Sam. I’m happy for you. In fact, I’m really looking forward to meeting the woman that made you forget all about Loran.

“Well, why wait?” Sam looked directly into Brooke’s eyes, wrinkling her nose and puckering up to send a kiss her way. “Here she is…” Sam’s small hand held the phone up to Brooke’s ear. “Talk Baby, talk.”

“Hi there. How are you?” Brooke smiled at Sam as she held her tightly around the waist, not letting the small woman move away.

“Sam?”

“Nope, I’m…” Brooke looked down at Sam’s T-shirt then at her own unclad body. The older woman chuckled at Sam’s horrified expression at what she was expecting might be said. “I’mmmm…taller.”

“So, you’re Brooke. Hello.”

“Yep,” Brooke started with a sexy grin. “Ow…” The tall woman looked down to the offending hand that wasn’t her own, then up to Sam’s mischievous grin. “She pinched me,” the startled voice cried out. “Crystal, right? Well, I’m Brooke.”

The voice on the other end laughed. “That’s our Sam. She’s always the little instigator,” Crystal revealed. “Well, most of the time.”

“Oh, really?” Brooke’s face turned serious with this new information.

“Yeah. So Brooke, I’ll ask you the same question that I asked Sam. How serious are you and the little troublemaker, there?

Caught off guard by the question, Brooke looked deeply into Sam’s eyes and spoke. “Very. I’ve never been more serious about anything in my life.” She watched as a smile graced the blonde’s beautiful face. Brooke leaned in and kissed her.

“You do know that she’s only been serious about one other woman in her lifetime.” Crystal felt compelled to warn her.

Coming off of the kiss, Brooke thought for a second and then muttered, “Oh yeah, Loran.” There was a hint of disgust in her tone. “Well, at least as serious as she could be without meeting her, right?”

“But we all knew that wasn’t an option. Imagine her and Loran. Now that would be funny to see.” Crystal chuckled at the concept of ever meeting someone so famous.

“Yeah,” Brooke smirked. “Loran had a pretty big bad girl image. But you can’t believe everything you read and hear. Most of the images in the music biz are just that, images made up by the publicists to sell albums.”

“You think? That chick is probably holed up somewhere with a hot little babe of her own and doing it around the clock, if you ask me.”

“I know!” the older woman stated. “I’m in the middle of it. I own my own recording company.”

Crystal let out a burst of air. “Hey, what would I know? Now ask me about hearts or recovery time…” her sentence stopped suddenly, then hesitantly she asked, “You own a company?”